Yashi Brown

BiographyYashi Brown is the second child and daughter of Rebbie and Nathaniel Brown. In the nineties, she formed a group with her sister Stacee and a friend and planned to release music under Michael's label MJJ Music. Sadly this never happened. Yashi is very talented and does music for a hobby that she runs through her company Black Daisy. Yashi is working hard on her first passion which is poetry. Her book book Black Daisy in A White Limousine, a collection of 77 poems was released on February 2nd, 2011 during the first POP (Poeple of Poetry), an open mic event hosted by Poetri and presented by Yashi and Tony Award winning poet Poetri. The POP event was held weekly for a couple of months in 2011.

Yashi is an author, poet, speaker and active leader in the mental health community and very passionate about mental health advocacy and continues to be an active force in providing awareness, recovery resources, and busting the widespread stigma still very much rampant in our society. She’s been very vocal in the media about stigma and has shared her personal experience on mental health for CNN, Today Show, ABC and NBC news stations, Extra, and Ebony/Jet publications to name a few. She is on the board as Treasurer for Project Return Peer Support Network (PRPSN), the largest and oldest peer support group in Los Angeles County since 1979 and is a national advocate for NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness), the most formidable grassroots organization and preeminent voice on capitol health for mental health. Visit yashibrown.com for more information.

Gifted with bipolar

Yashi was featured in the Huffington Post Black Voices Rise series in 2016 including a video titled Gifted with Bipolar showing Yashi as poet and mental health advocate as she states that she considers (her) bipolar disorder more of a blessing than a curse. On August 10th, 2016 Yashi, her sister Stacy and her mother Rebbie received the SAMHSA Special Recognition Award for their work to improve awareness and understanding of behavioral health issues and for speaking out on the role of family support for those liv ing with mental illness and addiction. Yashi and her mother and sister became mental health advocates after Yashi was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Rebbie has appeared on numerous TV shows to talk about her family’s experiences with Yashi and promote suicide prevention. Yashi has told her story to myriad news outlets, holds poetry workshops in psychiatric facilities and schools, and is board treasurer for Project Return Peer Support Network. “It’s important to me for people to know recovery is possible,” Yashi said in the Special Recognition Award acceptance speech, crediting her sister Stacy with encouraging her to seek treatment at UCLA where coincidentally the Voice Awards were held. Rebbiesaid it is important families learn as much as they can about the mental illness their loved one is living with and that they have “extreme patience.”

Yashi also received recognition for her work and efforts through other projects over the past few years. She was invited to the White House for President Obama’s 2013 National Mental Health Conference discussion on stigma reduction strategies which featured her video on the administration’s website mentalhealth.gov, alongside Kay Jamison, Demi Lovato, Cher, Glen Close, and Elyn Saks. In 2015, Yashi also spoke at Google Headquarters in Silicon Valley about mental health privacy needs and she was a “Goodwill Ambassador” for the LA2015 Special Olympic Games in downtown Los Angeles.

Notice Me

In November and December of 2016, Yashi led the first of a writing campaign on crowd-sourced poem on Hookist.com to benefit emotional well-being and mental health. In her partnership with The Campaign to Change Direction the goal is to help people who are in emotional pain, and the theme of this piece is “Reach Out and Touch Somebody.” Everyone knowing someone in emotional pain or living in silence and experiencing emotional pain, was invited to participate in the campaign to write a poem together. The result of the first campaign is the masterpiece poem called Notice Me that was created line by line and week by week by the team of this creative community. Yashi put a twist on this camapign so besides putting the poem into a spoken word piece, the next step is music as Yashi’s brother Austin and his writing partner, Brian London, are making the final touch to music and an original song! The final proceeds of the campaign will help benefit The Campaign to Change Direction, Get Lit - Words Ignite and Project Return Peer Support Network (PRPSN). Get Lit uses poetry and spoken word in schools to promote literacy, The Campaign to Change Direction seeks to change the culture in America about mental health, mental illness, and wellness. The Project Return Peer Support Network (PRPSN) promotes wellness, personal growth and self-determination for people who have experienced mental illness by providing social opportunities, education, and community involvement. Yashi created a video with her uncle Jermaine to spread the love on the Hookist campaign and discussing the power of global virtual collaboration and songwriting, also bringing attention and awareness about the five signs of emotional suffering.

Black Daisy in a White Limousine

Poetry became a safe space when Yashi began experiencing severe emotional challenges in her late teens. Her book of poems, Black Daisy in a White Limousine, expresses with imaginative detail her emotions, mental health challenges, dreams, and passions. Yashi is currently completing the music and audio re-release of Black Daisy in a White Limousine and also developing her own documentary which chronicles her personal journey and shares some compelling arguments. In the documentary Yashi demonstrates how a support system of family, friends, treatment, poetry, and her strong spirituality are the keys to her success. Yashi is especially passionate about conducting poetry workshops for psychiatric forensic patients through her foundation project, People of Poetry (POP).

Make sure to follow Yashi online and visit www.yashibrown.com for updates, inspiration, guidance and your chance to participate in her next campaign.

Black Daisy in A White Limousine

Black Daisy in A White Limousine (2011)

A collection of 77 poems by Yashi Brown, originally published on February 2nd, 2011.

A second edition was published on October 15th, 2012.

Our Destiny

Yashi Brown hasn't officially released music yet but she shared "Our Destiny" in 2008.